' Wrote:Thatcherite Britain was not in a state of symmetrical war under threat of invasion after the manner of Bretonia. The economy is already likely to crack because so much of the domestic product is going towards the military, so intentionally scaling back income during wartime would have dire effects. Furthermore, you underestimate just how influential and crucial BMM is - it rivals the British East India Company in that regard.
So again, no. Reducing operations in Dublin would have very detrimental effects with few benefits.
True, but Thatcherite Britain didn't have battleships in space either. I'm not saying Bretonia would choose to scale down as a long-term economic strategy, I'm saying they would be forced to re-configure their economic strategy and allocation of civilian and military resources to face an immediate threat to Bretonian existence. Especially in a situation where the economy is close to cracking on one hand and the war is going terribly wrong on the other, it seems wise to 'pick your winner' instead of having to try and sustain two different operations with the risk of losing both. Besides the relocation of Essex would not mean the end of BMM operations, they would just suffer a temporary setback in Dublin until the balance against Kusari is restored. I also think that in a dire situation, such as Bretonia is facing up to 4.86, the overall protection of the Empire's very existence takes priority over any corporate agenda, no matter how economically sensible that agenda is in the long run or how influential that corporation might be. Also, even though gold is vital for ship building, for production it cannot be needed in those insane quantities we see it mined on an average basis - it's not like the Bretonian ships are built of gold (and as we all know, the gold goes straight to Detroit anyways). The government would be forced to make a short term solution for an urgent problem, at the expense of a long term more viable economy, trying to compensate for this setback by granting Bowex extended rights. And who knows what will happen in the Kusari war - perhaps the relocation of Essex would push the Kusari back, allowing for Essex to be stationed back in Dublin once again?
It would just be so sad to see the mining go. Personally none of my characters really had a financial stake in it (had a miner for a few days but i got incredibly fed up with shooting at rocks, and i transported a bit of gold but got tired of that too), but I often go to Dublin to just watch thie drama unfold. No other system has that 'wild west' feel of desperation, although there truly is a need to put a lid on it somehow. Perhaps a simple reduction of ore prices will do the trick, but just turning the mod off seems like removing a brilliant and unique aspect of Disco.